Wells belched a juicy belch that scented the room with quease. Wells, whom they all called Herbert to annoy him, apologized and fussed his scarf back into place. The famed science fiction author
was Plus Ultra’s lead in media ventures and he tended to squeak the loudest since he couldn’t otherwise compete with Einstein and Tesla’s status. “These transfers,” he
said, “are such a terror on the digestion.”
“What do you need to digest at one in the morning?” asked Szilard.
Earhart studied Tesla’s face. “Where are the rest?” she asked. The upcoming meeting was supposed to include Plus Ultra’s second-tier leaders from around the world:
forty-six men and women, in all.
Tesla walked to the podium to check the system’s status. His face drained of color, and his wiry fists shook at his sides as he turned to fume at Wells. “The transfer system’s
overloaded. Damn you, Herbert, why didn’t you
wait your turn
?”
Wells wrinkled his brow in affront. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ve told you a
hundred times
! The system cannot sustain simultaneous transfers over such distances. It will be
hours
before the others can get through!”
Earhart looked at the control panel and saw Tesla was right.
SYS
.
ERROR
.
11A
.
OVERLOAD
.
“They’ll have to patch in from their MFDs,” said Tesla. “There’s a video link in the study; we’ll meet there.”
The trio of newly arrived Plus Ultra men strode past the Bracketts without acknowledging them, except for Einstein, who gave Lee a quick “Hello” on his way out of the room. Clara,
who must have recognized the men on sight, nudged her son. “Know who that was?” she asked.
Lee frowned. “Who? The guy who just got in trouble?”
His mom pursed her lips and slowly shook her head back and forth. “See, you don’t even know what H.G. Wells
looks like
.”
Earhart led them out of the pavilion and they caught up with the Plus Ultra leaders. When the hallway reached the Bracketts’ sleeping quarters, Earhart put a hand out in front of them.
“Please,” she said. “I have to add my voice to the boys’ club. You go get some sleep; I’ll be nearby if you need anything.”
“Just a moment, Amelia,” said Tesla, overhearing her. “I’d like the Bracketts along to our meeting, please. I want to hear some civilian impressions of our
issues.”
“I don’t think that would be appropriate,” said Szilard. For once, Earhart agreed with him. She wouldn’t have minded their company, but Clara needed rest, and this
wasn’t a conversation for newcomers.
Tesla wouldn’t back down. “If all that comes from the expense and time put into our dress rehearsal is the genuine outside perspective of
one soul
, that is at least
something
,” he said.
Earhart shrugged and gestured for Clara and Lee to follow. In spite of the late hour and the troubles of their day, Clara seemed as excited as ever.
They passed the robotics hub, where a surplus of Faustus units “slept” and recharged inside rows of glass canisters. A few were still up and about, checking base security or standing
by, awaiting orders. Earhart again noticed that Lee seemed skittish around Faustus, just as he had on board the
Pulsar
.
“You don’t have to stay up for this,” said Clara, reaching for his shoulder. “You want to do what Ms. Earhart said, and get some rest?”
Lee shook his head: “No, I want to hear what’s happening.” He made an obvious effort to ignore the Faustus staff. “You can’t have all the fun on this
trip.”
They entered the study through a steel door, heavy as a bank vault’s portal. The room was rectangular, with low amber lights and tall bookshelves surrounding an oval table and ten chairs.
Twenty videoconference screens spanned the walls, each set into the middle of the shelves. Five or six screens were already lit up with the faces of remote Plus Ultra leaders calling in for the
meeting. Howard Hughes stood at one end of the table, wearing a robe, slippers, and ascot and receiving a glass of milk from one of his dull-eyed, tux-clad android butlers. Another robo-servant was
removing a crystal decanter of whiskey and shot glasses from one of the shelves. He placed them in front of Tesla, who took position at the other end of the table.
After most of the screens had blinked to life and the butler had poured each of them a whiskey, Tesla called the meeting to order by downing his shot and slamming his glass on the tabletop.
“Esteemed colleagues, present and elsewhere. Let me begin this meeting by stating that no one here has any less of a voice than another…with the exception of our two guests, of
course.” He smiled at Lee and Clara, but Earhart could see that statement made them uncomfortable. Tesla wasn’t much for social graces, even when he tried. “Before I open the
floor to discussion, I’ll share my own feelings on the matter of our dress rehearsal and the broader revelation of the other world.”
Tesla gingerly stepped away from the head of the table and began to walk its perimeter, wringing his frail hands as he did. Earhart recognized this nervous energy in him and worried where it was
going to lead. “Since the discovery of the parallel dimension, our progress has accelerated by leaps and bounds. We’ve applied our discoveries to the development of technology that
boggles even my imagination. We’ve shared some of our riches with the world. But we’ve held back on many more, for fear the public wasn’t ready for them.”
He reached the far end of the table, rounded it, and started back. “But in nineteen twenty-nine, I became convinced we needed to change our rules of engagement. The global depression, the
Dust Bowl, and numerous other crises might have been ameliorated if not prevented with the technologies at our disposal, except our charter prevented such interference. I believed it was time to
rethink our policies, and the majority of you agreed with me. When we resolved to become wholly transparent by the end of this decade, I had hoped that sharing our most wondrous secret, the other
world, would inspire mankind out of despair by expanding their awareness of what was possible. With catastrophe and poverty and war all around us, our present moment needs to know that there is
more to life than what we see and suffer. I still believe that.”
Tesla poured himself another drink. It was clear to Earhart that he didn’t want to say what he felt he needed to say next. So he said it quickly, as if to be done with it. “We will
only ever have one chance to do this right, and I simply don’t think we can do that given this turn of events. I vote to delay the reveal until the threat against us is
neutralized.”
Earhart hurt for him. He had only wanted to share his “New Frontier” with the world since he discovered it long ago. He had always believed it was the right thing to do, but he had
been repeatedly voted down by the Plus Ultra majority, or bullied out of his idealism by the rich men that he needed to fund him. Choosing to delay yet again, this time freely, must have been
killing him inside. She watched him down his second shot and sit. “Those of you who patched in, please wait to speak until our present company have shared. The floor is open.”
Szilard didn’t waste any time. “I agree with Nikola. As much as I regret the terrorism that has struck the city, I am grateful for the opportunity to reassess. I fail to see the
value of making utopia if we can’t even defend it from radicals and despots like Hitler—”
Einstein interrupted. “At the risk of a bad pun, but this is largely relative. Are we not radicals? Are we not despots? We’re a tiny cabal of men with power and privilege beyond
imagining that for decades has imposed its will on the world, first by denying what we have or forcing what we have upon it, as we are about to do.”
“Surely you are not saying that there is no moral difference between Hitler and the enlightened leadership of our new world order?” asked Wells.
“Herbert, every time you say the words ‘new world order’ it makes me want to ask Earhart to punch you in the gut,” said Einstein, eliciting laughter.
“You’re one to judge,” said Wells. “The times I have heard you rail on and on about human stupidity…”
“But I never said I wasn’t immune to it. And that is exactly why I vote to stay the course and go public,” said Einstein.
“The future should be a global, democratic project, not the work of a few men hiding underground.”
Earhart observed the Bracketts as the leaders spoke. Clara nodded as Einstein said his piece. Lee listened intensely, betraying nothing.
“I’ll keep it simple. The bottom line, so to speak,” said Hughes. “I don’t know about utopia, cabals, and new world order, but I’ve got too much riding on
this to stop now. I can’t keep feeding into your machine without some returns, or we’re all sunk. That’s a fact.”
“You’ll get your money,” said Wells. “Whether we commence on as planned or delay, we will be able to launch the reveal at a moment’s notice. We have ad campaigns
ready for every major metropolitan area within two days’ travel of New York, we have every major city in the world wired with augmented reality, we have millions and millions of glasses ready
to mail from our fulfillment centers around the globe—”
“Yes, and it will costs me hundreds of thousands of dollars each day to keep the party on hold and secret while wait this out, and who knows how long that will be,” said Hughes.
“These enemies of ours have been on the run for seven years. Clearly, they are very good hiding. And we have confirmation that the Nazis are indeed helping them? Is that right?”
“One of the men who accompanied Rotwang into the hotel matches the intelligence we have on Ernst Hagen, a high-ranking German Navy officer,” said Earhart. “He’s currently
assigned to Hitler’s secret
Wunderwaffe
division.”
“Lohman,” murmured Hughes. “I actually met him once, years ago, at a party in Berlin with Errol Flynn. Interesting fellow.” He slurped his milk.
“Ms. Earhart?” said Tesla. “What is your opinion?”
Earhart knew her answer. It had been decided the second after Tesla offered his. The man had been father, friend, and more to her. He had given her purpose and adventure. He found her when she
had been lost. He treated her as he treated everyone, as an equal. Her gut told her to stick to her ideals, yet she felt obligated to follow Tesla’s lead.
“Delay,” she said. The word felt wrong to say. But she didn’t take it back.
Szilard chuckled. “Who says women shouldn’t vote, eh, Herbert?” He raised his glass. “To progress.”
“That makes three to three for our physically present company,” said Tesla. “Do you understand our discussion, Mrs. Brackett?”
Clara jumped a little in her seat. “Yes,” she replied.
“Well, then. Tell me your thoughts.”
Clara wiped her palms on her lap and rocked forward in her chair with a little giggle.
“As a civilian. As a fellow dreamer,” said Tesla.
Clara looked to Earhart, who gave her a small nod of approval.
“Well, I understand all the reasons to wait. I wanted to be an artist, before I got married. Then I had a kid, a good kid,” she nudged Lee in the ribs, “raised him, and then I
thought, ‘Okay, now I’ll try it. Now I’ll have time.’”
Clara’s son stared at the table, petrified.
“Cancer changed my plans, again.
When I’m better, then I’ll get on with my life,
I thought. But not long ago, my husband sent home his wages, and there wasn’t
enough to cover my medication.”
Lee’s eyes popped. He didn’t know this, not at all.
“It woke me up. In more ways than one,” Clara continued. “I just don’t have time to wait on this cancer, or my husband, or anything. The best excuse is still an excuse.
So I started drawing again.”
Clara put a hand on Lee’s shoulder. He just sat rigid, not making eye contact with her or anyone else.
“Lee’s helped me so much…” Her son looked up at her with a cold stare, and her voice broke. She took her hand from his shoulder and turned back to the group, collecting
herself. “I can’t give him back the time and energy he’s spent on me, and I can’t force him to be hopeful. I
can
say that in the time we’ve been with you,
I’ve seen him brighten, and I love seeing that. So if you want my opinion, there it is. Bring out your signs and wonders and your hopeful future, for God’s sake, for everyone: the young
people, the cynics, the dreamers. This world you’ve all seen has moved you to do amazing things. Let us be moved by it, too. And who knows what more amazing things will come of it.”
“That’s basic free enterprise thinking there,” said Hughes. “I like it.”
“Sentimental, even magical thinking,” said Wells. “The shape of things to come demands harder, tougher, more reasonable—”
He interrupted himself with another belch. Einstein waved away the stench. “Stop talking, already. Please.”
Before anyone could say anything else, Lee bolted out of his chair and ran out the study door. Clara called after him, but he didn’t stop. She rose, and Earhart and Einstein rose with her,
but she waved them to sit back down. “Excuse me,” she said, and left them.
Earhart thought of Clara, and who she had become despite her ordeal. She thought of herself, and her own ordeal. But she thought of Henry most of all. He wasn’t a robot. A robot
couldn’t be hopeless, like Clara talked about. But hopeless was just the start of Henry. Even if he was wrong, Plus Ultra had a part to play in making him that way. Earhart had a part to
play, by association, if nothing else. When he was a fourteen-year-old kid, he had worshipped her, but he must have thought she was pretty damn guilty when he shot her down.
“A better future is something we make, if not fight to make, every day,” she found herself saying aloud. “I’m prepared to fight for this.” She looked to Tesla, eyes
full of apology. “I change my vote. Let’s open it up.”
“That a girl,” said Hughes, toasting her with his milk glass.
A fragile hand presented her a glass of whiskey. It belonged to Tesla. “‘To thine own self, be true.’ I would never want anything less from you,” he said.
“Who’s next?”